Jersey City's Liberty Landing is last stop in 40,000-mile yacht race around the world

Jersey City’s Liberty Landing marina played host to 10 colorful yachts last week competing in a 40,000-mile race around the world.

The Clipper 11-12 Round the World Race began last July in Southampton, England. The race features ten 68-foot long yachts, each one sponsored by a city, county, or country. Their stop in Jersey City was the final port in the seventh leg of the race, which ran from San Francisco to the Panama Canal and up to Hudson County and New York Bay.

The yachts then moved to North Cove Marina just across the Hudson River in Manhattan, where they’ll start the last leg of the race. On Friday, the yachts set sail for Halifax, Nova Scotia, before they start an Atlantic crossing later in the month.

It’s an amateur race, with almost no requirements other than an 18-year-old age minimum.

“People have signed up from all over the world to race, and about 40 percent of them have never sailed before,” Clipper spokeswoman Ruth Harrington said. “We’ve had people on the boats who’ve sold their homes and given up their normal lives to take part in the race. We had one person who finished at this leg and decided to buy a boat to sail around the world.”

Those who sign up become crew members who have the choice of sailing between one and three legs or the entire race. The crews are managed by a Clipper employee, who skippers the boat for the duration of the race. The New York-sponsored boat, the only boat with a North American sponsor, is skippered by Englishman Gareth Glover, who’s been sailing for nearly 22 years.

A former rafting guide and race organizer, Glover, 36, was allocated the New York boat at the start of the race, which he has captained for 10 months.

“If I wasn’t here, I’d be somewhere else doing something very similar,” he said. “I’m like a professional sailor now. This is what I like to do.”

His trip into Jersey City marked his first true visit to the United States, as his time in San Francisco consisted only of a trip to the airport to fly home to England and back.

“Jersey City and New York have been fun,” he said. “We’ve done some sightseeing and some drinking. I’m going to bring my girlfriend back here to do all the sightseeing and stuff we can here. China was fantastic, but Jersey City and New York has been my favorite port so far.”

Jersey City resident Greg Kyle, an investment researcher, was a crew member on the Singapore-sponsored ship. A native of Victoria, British Columbia, he traveled from China to San Francisco and back to Jersey City. For Kyle, who’s been sailing since he was a teenager, completing the cross-Pacific leg of the race meant completing a dream he and his late father held.

“My father and I always talked about making a cross-Pacific trip,” he said. “After he passed I knew I had to do it.”

Kyle said his experience was exciting, if not treacherous, especially on the Pacific crossing.

“There are good times and bad times when you’re out at sea,” he said. “The Pacific Ocean had 40 to 50 foot waves and 60 mph winds and we had one . On the other hand, the Atlantic Ocean was a wonderful run and the Panama Canal was an excellent experience.”